June 6, 2012

I agree & can speak from experience

At least for the company website bit.

I applied once to a local call center that had recently changed it's polices to accept only online applications, & required answering a questionnaire (the 1-5 sliding scale "I strongly agree - I strongly disagree type) on top of supplying a resume, work history, etc.

I answered the questionnaire as honestly as I could, just to get an automated email later saying I didn't meet their requirements.

Being the technically inclined guy I am (Fix & build PC's for a living, used to finding workarounds) I figured out the apps were tied to email addresses, submitted a new application but this time giving out the 'gung-ho' I strongly agree answers, & later got an email saying I passed the app & would be getting a call for an interview soon.

The online work application was based on a pre-set of answers & automatically rejected you if you did not meet up with the gung ho attitude they were looking for...I doubt previous experience, expertise, references, etc played any part in the hiring process..

..Just a cold non-human program that merciless dump anyone with honesty, integrity, etc.

I believe they had only 2 H.R. people there..for a building that housed 500-600 employees at any given time..the program did most of the work for them..freeing them up to do pretty much...nothing.

Any real issues or grievances that were brought before them by the front-line agents (the people manning the phones, that did the real work, everything else is just support, really) resulted in them taking the company side pretty much all the time. The center tried to unionize to combat the unjust firings, etc, just to have that squashed due to intimidation & other methods (also threats to 'move elsewhere' if a union was formed)..along with an ineffectual labor board.

I put in a year & 1/2 before I decided to call it quits..after watching too many brown-nosers promoted to potions they couldn't handle, (due to too much time getting OUT of real work in various ways.. resulting in less real knowledge & experience doing the job) & watching various people getting fired for whatever reasons they could justify.

It's a common practice at most call centers..it keeps wages & salaries from getting too high..another trick being moving campaigns to other locations & setting everyone back to zero again, getting paid much less for the 'new' campaign. Of course you have the 'option' of moving to the new location to keep your old job...but the locations were usually pretty far away..as in the other side of the country or another country completely.

The company in question was named StarTek...whose client at the site I worked at was...T-Mobile.

June 4, 2012

Montreal's Grand Prix cancels opening day over protest threats

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/06/03/montreal-grand-prix-student-protests.html?cmp=rss

Montreal's Grand Prix cancels opening day over protest threats

Threats of student protests have forced organizers of the Canadian Grand Prix to cancel the free opening day of the event.

"Our ticket sales are down over the last month or so. People didn't buy the tickets, saying that they were afraid to come to Montreal."

Quebec Premier Jean Charest in turn has been critical of threats toward the race that generates an estimated $100 million in revenue for the city.
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Boy..the lies, fear, & hyperbole are strong with this government..Jean Charest is trying to make a big show as a tough guy since his party got decimated in the last election...maybe he's auditioning for a later move across the border to join the republican party?

May 31, 2012

Conservative Grifter Bev Oda's staff silent on travel expense changes

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/05/30/pol-oda-expenses.html?cmp=rss

International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda's office is refusing to say whether she has paid taxpayers back for any inappropriate travel costs in addition to the lavish hotel and chauffeured car she expensed for a trip to London last summer.

The refusal to provide information comes in the wake of last month's controversy when details emerged about Oda charging taxpayers with a stay at the swanky Savoy hotel in London last June. The room cost more than $600 per night.

Oda was originally supposed to stay at the hotel that was hosting the conference she was attending, but upon arrival in London she booked a room at the Savoy instead. Oda also billed taxpayers about $1,000 per day for a car and driver to transport her to the conference, a short cab ride away from the Savoy.
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As my title suggests..just another conservative party grifter living high off of YOUR tax money while we break our back on mimimum wage paying for it. Angry yet?

Don't let the issue of stolen elections through robocalls die! Get Harper & grifter buddies out of office!

May 24, 2012

Police kettle Montreal student protesters, arresting 518

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/05/24/montreal-arrests-kettling.html?cmp=rss

Police kettle Montreal student protesters, arresting 518

Police in Montreal moved in on student protesters again Wednesday night, kettling them and making 518 arrests — the largest number in one night since the demonstrations began weeks ago.

"This is the 30th night of the protest," one woman told CBC's Tom Parry. "Can you imagine what's going to happen when there's summer festivals? … We're going to keep marching. It's not going to stop. Negotiations have to happen."

The Quebec government has offered to return to the bargaining table, but it won't give in on the tuition hike or on another student demand that it scrap its controversial new emergency law that clamps down on protests.